First impressions of the new LinkedIn layout

After several months of waiting, it finally happened last Friday...I was shifted to the new layout of LinkedIn! I had previously asked to be moved to the new layout when it started to roll out, but was ungenerously advised by LinkedIn to 'wait my turn'. Well, my turn has come and having spent several hours looking at the new layout, what are some of my initial impressions?

1. The look - It looks 'cleaner' and in many ways more contemporary which I like. Generally, the various sections, buttons and links are well outlined and easy to find.
2. Summary - Disappointingly, when you are in your profile or looking at someone else's summary, you only see the first 2 lines of text (or 220 characters if you want to be more specific). If you want to see more, you have to click...'See more'! Most of us are inherently lazy when it comes to being online, so clicking a link is a little tiresome. However, the critical issue now means that you have to ensure the first 2 lines of your summary count and to grab the readers' attention.
3. Search - On the top of most pages you will find the Search text box. Very handy and when you type something in (be it a name, organisation, industry or whatever), it brings up a drop down of relevant results you can then click on. Alternatively, if you hit enter, or click the little magnifying glass, you'll be taken to another screen where you can then do the appropriate filtering. It's easy to get around the site and find what you need.
4. Order of sections - In the legacy layout, I could move things around my profile such that important elements like Honours & awards could be 'dropped and dragged' closer to the top of my profile. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case and the order is what it is and can't be changed. This is somewhat offset by the fact that the profile is now shortened (such that many sections are condensed in length).
5. Updates to your network when you make changes to your profile - The new layout allows you to individually select whether or not you wish to notify your network regarding any changes. This is far better than the legacy version which had one carte blanche switch to either allow updates to be broadcast to connections or not. Helpfully, key sections at the top of the new layout (such as name, industry and summary) are not broadcast at all.
6. Condensed experience section - For someone like me who has been around for a while, the old version of LinkedIn often resulted in more screens than War & Peace. The new layout for Experience helps by only showing logo, title, company name, tenure and total service in years and months...Excluding the description box. So, if you want to know more about my past work experience, you need to click on a link to 'Show more' and if you'd like to know what I did in a job, you click on 'See description' and whatever verbiage you've added, will be presented to the reader. Excellent!
7. Logos and company names - In the legacy layout, I could change a company name versus that associated with a company page and hence a logo. So, for example, I worked with Equant which was taken over by Orange. With the new layout, I can no longer have an Orange logo with company 'Equant'...It has to be Orange. Given that many companies evolve, are taken over, merged, rebrand etc. I feel this may be a little short-sighted on LinkedIn's behalf.
8. Skills - Only the top 3 show on your profile, and I have to click a link below this to view others. Similar to the summary section, this certainly reinforces the need to have your top 3 skills visible on your profile. Endorsements associated with skills used to have photos of a number of endorsers. No longer. You only get a few endorsers, who are generally themselves adept or 'expert' in this same skills.
9. Recommendations - No longer associated with a job and sitting under each role, but rather aggregated at the bottom of the profile. You can change the order of recommendations, but I suspect being so low down the profile (requiring extraordinary effort from the reader), they may not be viewed at all. The trade-off is that the overall profile is now not so 'deep'...On a related point, it's now really easy to be able to either ask for a recommendation or give one to a connection. Once I'm in a connections' profile, I simply click on the 3 dots in the top right-hand box where their profile picture resides and do what's required. I can also unfollow or disconnect from connections using these dots as well.
10. Messaging - I like the clean look and feel of the messaging functionality. You can also add pictures or links to inmails sent to connections.
11. Notifications - All under one section and easy to manage. Well done!
12. Company page - If you want to add a company page, it's a little difficult to see where and how to do this. To help you out, click on 'Tools' and ensure you scroll down all the options until you are presented with 'Create a company page'.
13. Relationship tab - The legacy version of LinkedIn allowed you to keep your own private record of when you connected with someone and the circumstances of same, along with a few notes (e.g. 'Met Jim at a networking event in Sydney on 16th November 2014'). This has gone the way of the dodo and is apparently only available on the Sales Navigator version of LinkedIn (i.e. premium, which costs mucho dinero).
14. Profile strength gauge - Gone on the new layout. I was quite proud to be deemed an 'All-star' and to be reminded of same each time I logged onto LinkedIn, so I guess in future I'll need to get my ego boost elsewhere...

One, final observation...As I was writing this article, on several occasions LinkedIn advised me that 'Something went wrong', which meant I needed to copy the article and then refresh the screen on many occasions. Very irritating LinkedIn!

So there you have it. My initial impressions of the new LinkedIn layout. Overall, I really like it and once I become more familiar with it, will no doubt be able to do more and make full use of all the related functionality. It still fulfils it's 3 key benefits for me, such that it allows me to:

1. Build and present an attractive online profile that is available to 460 million other business professionals (and allows me to be found).
2. Apply for suitable jobs, and most importantly
3. To have full visibility of my expanded (2nd degree) network in order to facilitate networking.

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If you enjoyed this article and you would like more information around job search for mature-age workers (or would like a great gift for a spouse or partner who is struggling to find a new role), my book 'Fired to Hired, The Guide to Effective Job Search for the Over 40s' is a great, one-stop resource for contemporary job search. Job-seekers are often overwhelmed by the amount of information (often contradictory and complex) around job search, however, my book spells out the key actions required to facilitate an effective job search...and all in one place!

You can download the first two chapters of the book here and it's also available for purchase in hard copy or for Kindle e-readers.

You can also arrange personal job search coaching sessions with me by visiting www.thecareermedic.com.

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The Career Medic - Taking the worry out of job search for the over 40s